Would have liked to finish earlier: Dhoni

Mirpur, 2014/Mar/23 12:42:00

Text Size

India managed to win in a canter against West Indies thanks to their bowlers but they made heavy weather of chasing down a low target. It was a fact addressed by both captains after the match.Dhoni admitted that it was a blot on an otherwise perfect game. "We would have liked to finish the game earlier. Ultimately, it was up to the two batsmen in the middle," he said. Darren Sammy too was pleased with his bowlers' efforts and saw it is a positive.

"The bowlers though did well to drag the game till the final over. The net run rate could be crucial in tournaments like these," said the West Indies skipper.

Both captains also were united in praising the efforts of Rohit Sharma, who top-scored with an unbeaten 62. "It was important for Rohit to bat through. He has shots all around the wicket. This will give him confidence," said Dhoni while Sammy conceded that Rohit and Kohli took the game away from his team with the bat. The all-rounder from St.Lucia was also honest in his assessment of their failures. "We knew India were playing a spin heavy attack. We were late to respond," he said.

Looking ahead, Dhoni sounded concerned about the death bowling despite India's impressive bowling in the two games so far. "Most of the other sides have a death bowling specialist but we will choose bowlers, depending on the conditions," said Dhoni. He also said that his batsmen would be tested a lot more in the upcoming games

"We are playing well. Our bowling has been tested. Our batting, not so far. In the coming matches the other batsmen will get a chance to bat. We want to take it one game at a time," said the India skipper.

Darren Sammy too was hopeful of a better show from his team.

"We still have three games to go, we are still confident. We will regroup and comeback to play Bangladesh."

Man of the Match Amit Mishra was elated at winning his second such award on the trot and credited Dhoni for backing him.

"I am really happy in getting back-to-back Man of the Match awards. It is good to contribute to the win. I am enjoying myself and I am thankful that Dhoni has the confidence in me. I have done a lot of hard work in the nets and all my variations are working," said the leg-spinner.